FWC rescues cold-stressed manatee from Longboat Key canal

The manatee was in critical condition and transported to a rehabilitation facility in Myakka City.

By Carter Weinhofer
| 2:10 a.m. March 3, 2025

Florida Wildlife Commission staff lift the manatee into the back of the unique vessel.

Longboat Key
News

On Feb. 26, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) crew responded to a manatee-in-distress call in Longboat Key’s Bay Isles community.

According to the crew on board, concerned citizens reported spotting the manatee in the area for a couple of days before FWC responded to rescue the manatee.

In the canal was a large group of about 15 manatees, but one exhibited abnormal behavior and signs of distress.

A crew of about 12 FWC members responded by boat to the canal and spotted the distressed manatee in the crowd.

The manatee suffered from cold stress and exhibited abscesses on its skin, some algae on its back and was slightly lethargic.

The FWC crew used a large net to direct the manatee to the back of the vessel where it could then be loaded into the vessel.

The FWC crew used a large net to corral the manatee to the rescue vessel, which had a specially designed back to detach so the crew could pull the manatee into the vessel.

A crew member on board estimated it’s the agency’s 10th call this year for this type of injury. The manatee was in rough shape and needed urgent care.

The Observer reached out to the FWC after the rescue and, although the agency could not accommodate an interview, the agency provided an update on the rescued mammal.

“FWC's marine mammal team rescued a 7-foot cold-stressed manatee on (Feb. 26), and it was transported to Bishop Museum’s satellite rehab facility in Myakka City,” an FWC representative said in a statement. “The manatee is critical, but doing OK so far in rehab.”

Staff with FWC evaluated the rescued manatee which appeared to bein critical condition from cold weather.

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton is part of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership, founded in 2001.

When a partner takes in a manatee in critical condition, it is first taken to a critical care facility at a satellite hospital to receive life-saving care.

Then, the manatee is transferred to a second-stage rehabilitation facility like the Bishop Museum, where rehabilitators prepare the manatee to be released back into the wild.

Manatee protections

Cold-stress is one of the common natural causes for a manatee to need to be rescued and receive critical care, according to the FWC.

This happens when manatees spend too much time in cold weather or do not move to warmer locations during the winter. If the manatees spend too much time in water temperatures less than 68 degrees, the mammals will begin to show symptoms of cold-stress.

Those symptoms include abscesses, skin bleaching, sores, a heavy load of barnacles or algae and will appear to be underweight.

Cold stress often happens in smaller manatees, which can grow to about 10 feet long and weigh up to 1,000 pounds.

Manatees are classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The FWC estimates there is a population of about 8,350 in Florida.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act protect these animals in Florida.

Due to these protections, it's important not to touch, disturb, feed or give water to manatees, the FWC states.

If a manatee is spotted in distress, sick or dead, citizens can call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922). Or text 847411 (Tip411) with the keyword “FWC” and information about the manatee.

author

Carter Weinhofer

Carter Weinhofer is the Longboat Key news reporter for the Observer. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, he moved to St. Petersburg to attend Eckerd College until graduating in 2023. During his entire undergraduate career, he worked at the student newspaper, The Current, holding positions from science reporter to editor-in-chief.